Adjustable stilt



-QQL 3,94% E; F TAYLOR 294%@77 ADJUSTABLE STILT Filed Aug. 291 1.946

Patented Oct. 25, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE ADJUSTABLE STILTBenjamin F. Taylor, Livingston County, Mich. Application August 29,1946, Serial No. 693,685

5 Claims.

This invention relates to stilts and particularly to a stilt having apole and an adjustable footrest thereon.

While various types of stilts have been made heretofore having afootrest permanently or adjustably secured thereon, the presentinvention is believed to be novel in having the footrest adjustable onthe pole in a simple but positive manner.

The pole may be made of wood, metal or other material, which may besolid or hollow as long as sufhcient strength is provided to preventbending or breaking. A plurality of apertures are employed on oppositefaces of the pole in predetermined spaced relation for receivingprojections on portions of the footrest which encompass the pole. Thefootrest has a flat footreceiving portion provided with a centraldownwardly projecting flange with space, aligned ring elements providedthereon through which the pole extends. The elements conform to theshape of the pole on three sides, with opposite sides paced therefrom sothat the footrest may tilt relative to the pole a sufficient amount topermit the projections to move out of the apertures and the footrest tobe moved upwardly or downwardly on the pole.

When the projections are aligned with the apertures and the footrest ismoved downwardly, as

when a load is applied thereto, the pins are drawn into the apertures tosecurely lock the footrest in adjustable position on the pole.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to provide a stiltwith a footrest which is readily adjustable thereon for positioning thefootrest a predetermined distance above the ground-engaging end of thepole; to provide a stilt having a foot-engaging portion and portionswhich encompass the pole in a manner to have opposite sides at the topand the bottom spaced from a pole for permitting a slightcounterclockwise rotation of the footrest relative thereto and theadjustment of the footrest upwardly and downwardly on the pole; toprovide a footrest for a stilt having spaced portions which encompassthe pole on the inner surface of which oppositely disposed projectionsare provided for extending into apertures in the pole and having thefaces opposite the projections spaced from the pole to permit theprojections to be moved into and out of the apertures for adjusting thefootrest thereon; and, in general, to provide a stilt which is simple inconstruction, adjustable in height and economical of manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will bespecifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for abetter understanding of the invention, to the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view of a stilt embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken view of the stilt illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, takenon the line 3-3 thereof, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, takenon the line t--ll thereof.

The stilt of the present invention comprises a pole I, which hereinillustrated is made of a metal tubular section, having walls ofsufficient thickness to provide strength which prevents the pole frombending when in use. Opposite faces 2 and 3 of the pole are providedwith apertures and 5, respectively, which are spaced a predetermineddistance from each other lengthwise of the faces and positioned inoffset relation to each other with respect to the opposite faces.

A footrest 6 has a horizontal web portion 'I' for receiving the foot,which portion has an upturned ange 8 on the outer end to prevent thefoot from slipping from the rest outwardly of the pole. The web portion'l is supported on a vertically disposed web 9 which extends downwardlyat il and inwardly at I2 to be aligned with an upper web portion I3adjacent to the web portion l. At the ends of the web portions i3 andl2, rectangular elements I4 and I5, respectively, extend forencompassing the pole I. Projections iii and I1 extend inwardly from theinner faces of the elements I4 and I5 for engage-ment with the apertures5 and 4, respectively.

A space I8 is provided between the face 2 of the pole I and the wall I9adjacent to the web I3, of suicient width so that the movement of thewall I9 against the face 2 withdraws the projection I6 out of theaperture 5. A similar space 2l is provided between the face 3 of thepole and the wall 22 of the element I5 which permits the projection ilto move out of the aperture il in the face 2 of the pole when the wall22 is moved adjacent to the face 3 of the pole.

When the footrest is in the position illustrated in Fig. 2 with theprojection l@ disposed in an l aperture 5 and the projection il disposedin an aperture 4, the weight of the person having a foot on the footrestwill cause the iootrest to 'tend to move in a clockwise direction withrela- 3 tion to the pole and force the projections I6 and Il into theapertures and 4, respectively, to more securely retain the footrest inlocked position on the pole. The foot may be placed under the footrestto raise its outer end and cause it to move in a counterclockwisedirection relative to the pole for,` moving the projections I5 and Ilfrom the apertures 5 and d, respectively, so that the footrest may beadjusted upwardly of downwardly thereon by the foot of the person. Theadjustment may be made in this manner while the person is standing on apair of stilts, or the adjustment may be made by the person before thestilts are occupied. A simple locking and adjusting arrangement isprovided for the footrest on the pole of the stilt which positivelyretains the -footrest in adjusted position on the pole.

As is evident from Fig. 1, the pole may be provided with a groundengaging cap 25 which may be made of rubber or like nonskid material,while the top may be enclosed by a similar .plug or cap 26. While thepole is illustrated as being rectangular and of 'hollow cross section,it is to be understood that the pole may be solid and made frommaterials other than metal and may be of cylindrical or any other form.

What is claimed is:

i. A stilt, comprising a pole, having on oppo site sides thereofapertures which are spaced a predetermined distance apart, and afootrest having ring portions which encompass the pole provided withprojections on diametrically opposite sides on the respective ringportions for engaging the apertures and having the sides directlyopposite the projections spaced from the adjacent faces of the pole asufficient amount to permit the projections to move from the aperturesrwhen the footrest is tilted about a center 'between the ring elements.

2. A stilt, comprising a pole, having equally spaced apertures onopposite sides of the pole, a footrest for said pole having afoot-supporting yportion and having upper and lower spaced portions i orencompassing the pole, the upper spaced portion having on its inner faceremote from the footrest an inwardly extending projection for engagingan aperture in the pole and having the portion opposite to saidprojection spaced from the pole an amount at least equal to the lengthof the projection, the lower vring portion having a projection extendinginwardly there- 'from on the side adjacent to the footrest for engaginga projection on the pole, while the portion opposite to that containingthe projection is spaced from the pole an amount at least equal to thelength of the projection whereby the weight of a foot on the footresttends to move the projections inwardly into the apertures on Vthe polefor more securely locking the footrest thereon, while a reverse orupward movement of the end of the f-ootrest will move the projectionsfrom the apertures to permit the adjustment of the footrest on the pole.

3. .A stilt having a hollow, rectangular pole with apertures provided inopposite faces thereof spaced apart equal amounts, a footrest havingspaced upper and lower rectangular rings which encompass the pole, theupper ring having a projection on the side remote from the footengagingportion for extending into an aperture in the pole while the sideadjacent to the footengaging portion of the footrest is spaced from theadjacent face of the pole an amount at least equalto the length of theprojection, the lower ring portion having a projection on the sideadjacent to the foot-engaging portion of the foot- -.rest for extendinginto an aperture in the adjacent face of the pole, while the side of thering portion opposite to that having the projection is spaced from theadjacent face of the pole an amount at least equal to the length of theprojection whereby the rotation of the footrest about a center midwaybetween the `two ring portions moves the projections from the aperturesso that the footrest may be adjusted longi- .tudinally of the pole.

v 4. A stilt having a pole of hollow section and having on oppositesides thereof openings equally spaced from each other, a footrestembodying \a foot-engaging portion having a downwardly extending web,ring portions secured lto the foot-engaging portion and the downwardlyextending web which encompass the pole, the ring adjacent to thefoot-engaging portion oi the Afootrest having a 'projection on the innerface ,thereof remote from the foot-engaging portion of the footrest andhaving the portion opposite thereto spaced from the adjacent face of thepole when the projection extends into an aperture thereof, the lowerring portion 'having a Vprojection extending inwardly from the facethereof adjacent to the web and having the face thereof opposite theretospaced from the adjacent 'face of the pole when the projection extendsinto an aperture in the pole whereby the counterclockwise rotation ofthe lfootrest about a center between the rings causes the projections tomove from the apertures so that the footrest may be adjustedlongitudinally on the pole.

5. A stilt having a pole providedwith apertures on opposite sidesthereof, and a footrest having a foot-receiving portion and apoleyencompassing portion, the latter of which 'is provided with anupper and a lower projection on opposite inner sides thereof forengaging apertures on opposite sides of the pole for locking thefootrest in adjusted position thereon, said upper projection beingdisposed on'the side of the encompassing portion remote from thefoot-receiving portion, the sides of the encompassing portion remotefrom the projections being spaced from the adjacent sides of the pole anamount at least equal to the length of the projections.

BENJAMIN E'. TAYLOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 96,443 Kimberly Nov. 2, i869738,240 Roberts Sept. 8, 1903 744,149 Wilton Nov. 17, 1903

